PC gamers who remember the pre-Steam era may recall the iconic “big box” packaging that made games stand out on store shelves. These oversized boxes have since become popular collectibles, and now GOG is bringing back that nostalgia with downloadable 3D models and printable, collapsible high-resolution scans of classic PC game boxes.
GOG’s new “Printable Big Box” collection currently includes five games: Aluminum Log, Descent, Hitman: Codename 47, Myst, and Star Trek: 25th Anniversary. When browsing these titles in the GOG Store, shoppers will see a “3D Box” listed among the included digital extras.
Owners of the selected games can download a ZIP file containing a digital version of the original box art as an animated 3D object in GLB format. The download also includes flat, printable box templates in PDF, SVG, and Adobe Illustrator formats.
These files give players the opportunity to create their own retro PC game packaging. GOG describes the downloads as “a decent papercraft project for anyone who misses a shelf full of PC gaming boxes,” offering a creative way to recreate the look of classic computer game collections at home.
The animated 3D model shows the front flap opening.
Credit: GOG
“Physical media doesn’t survive like software. Boxes get lost, crushed, or thrown away,” GOG said in its announcement. “Being able to scan them and print them yourself is another form of preservation. The same mission that keeps these games running on modern PCs also applies to the objects they came in.”
By offering printable big box templates alongside its preserved PC games, GOG is extending its digital preservation efforts to the physical packaging and artwork that helped define classic PC gaming.
Source: arstechnica.com